TIPS TO PREPARE FOR YOUR DEPARTURE TO BEIJING
Electrical power outlets in China:
Unlike the 110V used in the US, China uses 220V. So please check that your electrical gadgets (laptops, mobile phone chargers, shavers, hairdryers, etc.) will work with the 220V. Most laptops and shavers should be fine. In any case, you will need a plug adaptor to accommodate the different shape of the power outlet in China. You can see the type of adaptor you need at: http://www.international-electrical-supplies.com/china-plug-adapters.html. If you don’t have the right adaptor, you should be able to pick it up at an airport travel accessory store.
Weather:
The weather in Beijing is expected to be very pleasant (at least by standards here in Evanston, IL). For updates, see:
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/tenday/CHXX0008?from=36hr_topnav_business
Travel from Airport to Hotel in Beijing:
Arriving at the Beijing International Airport
The new terminal (Terminal #3) at the Beijing International Airport will start its operations for international flights on March 26, Wednesday (local time). If you arrive on March 25 or before, you will be arriving at the old terminal (Terminal #2). If you arrive on March 26 or later, at which terminal you will be arriving depends on your airline. United Airlines, JAL, and Air China will be using the new terminal (Terminal #3) starting on March 26. Northwest and Continental will be remaining at the old Terminal #2.
Regardless of which terminal your flight will be using, the process of going through the border control and clearing the customs will be the same. As we have no experience with the operations at Terminal #3, the following summary is based on the experience at Terminal #2. In general, the Beijing Airport is one of the most efficient, friendly, and well-marked airports in the world.
- On the plane, you should be getting three forms: border entry form, health inspection form, and customs form (depending on your arrival time, sometimes health forms are skipped).
- When you deplane and follow the signs to Border and Luggage Pick-up Area, the first check point is a health inspection station. You simply submit the health inspection form and then you will be cleared.
- The next step is to pass the border control. There are a large number of clearly-marked lanes and passing through the border control stations will not take much time.
- After the border control, please follow the signs to the Luggage Pick-up area. Free carts are available. Before you exit the Luggage Pick-up area, you will need to submit the customs forms to a customs official.
Taking the Taxi to the Conference Hotel
After you leave the Luggage Pick-up area, you will find large signs directing you to the taxi stations. Depending on the time of your arrival, there might be a long line of people waiting for a taxi. However, the Airport has a great system of letting taxi drivers know about the demand. So there will always be a sufficient number of taxis around and in most cases it will take at most 20 minutes to get into a taxi.
Most taxi drivers in Beijing do not know about our conference hotel, unfortunately. Furthermore, in Beijing, the street numbers do not mean much practically and cannot be used as location identifiers. Most drivers cannot communicate in English, however they will be very helpful. For example, they will be more than happy to lend you their cell phone to make calls to either the hotel or local conference organizers.
In this situation, it is very important for you to print the last page of this document, and pass it to the taxi driver. This page contains more than sufficient information for the driver to get to the hotel.
- It will cost about RMB 120.00-130.00 (about USD 17.50) to get from the airport to the hotel under normal traffic condition. You do NOT need to tip the driver. Everything is already included in the quoted taxi fare. There is a RMB 10.00 toll road charge you are responsible. The driver will pay for it first and then add this RMB 10.00 charge to the taxi fare for you to pay when you arrive. Only cash in RMB will be accepted.
- It will take between 45-70 minutes to get from the airport to the hotel.
- Please call (or have the driver call) Daniel Zeng (the co-organizer of the concurrent Infectious Disease workshop) at 135-2013-2193 if you need any help. This phone number is also provided on the last page of this document.
Currency Exchange
In Terminal #2, there are bank-run foreign exchange stations both within the luggage pick-up area as well as in the airport lobby after you exit from the luggage pick-up area. In addition, there are ATMs that will take your credit or bank cards and give you local currencies (RMB). We are sure that Terminal #3 offers similar services
The conference hotel also has a foreign exchange station but with a limit of USD 100 per day. (There are no nearby banks that offer foreign exchange services.)
Please plan ahead to get sufficient money in RMB to cover local costs. Although the workshop will provide all the meals during the workshop (March 27 dinner – March 29 dinner); you might need to have meals at the conference hotel on March 26. A decent dinner will cost about RMB 70-150 (e.g., the hotel offers a buffet in this price range).
Check-in and Meals at the Conference Hotel
If you arrive on March 26, we will have a volunteer graduate student waiting for you in the lobby, helping you with the hotel check-in process. The hotel already has your name in their system. If you arrive earlier, please proceed to the check-in counter directly. For those of you whose trip is covered by the NSF grant, please do not pay anything up front (i.e., no deposit). If you are paying the hotel using your own funds, you need to pay the security deposit up front.
- All the hotel rooms have free Internet access.
- The hotel staff in charge of check-in is expected to be able to communicate in English.
- For dinner on March 26, please pay on your own (reimbursable for NSF-funded participants). The hotel has a good restaurant.
- All the conference meals will have vegetarian dishes. If you have special dietary needs, please let us know at idb08china@gmail.com.
Conference Events and Local Activities
- If you plan to do some local sightseeing on March 26 on your own, you would need to get a taxi. There are no interesting sites within the walking distance.
- In most places in Beijing, getting a taxi is very easy on the road; there is no need for reservations. However, please make sure to bring the last page of this document such that the taxi driver will know how to find the hotel!
- Again, please call (or have the driver call) Daniel Zeng at 135-2013-2193 if you need any help.
Starting on March 27, all the activities will be group-based. When you check in on March 26, our student volunteer will provide you with a meal ticket for the buffet-style breakfast on March 27. The breakfast time is 7 a.m.—9 a.m.
We will get together as a group in the hotel lobby around 8:50 a.m. and we plan to depart for Trip A (Great Wall and Ming Dynasty Tomb) at 9:00 a.m.
The tour bus will return around 4:30 p.m. After a short break, we will start our reception dinner, a casual event (without any official program) with participation from US visitors, a small number of Chinese colleagues, and local hosts, around 6:00 p.m. The dinner will be at the Dining Hall at the second floor of the hotel. You will receive the conference packet at the dinner.
Look forward to seeing you soon!
Conference Hotel：Golden Harbor Hotel
酒 店：金泰海博大酒店
[Address]：No.136 North Road West Four Ring, Haidian District Beijing
[地 址]：北京市海淀区西四环北路136号（定慧桥与四季青桥中间）
[Hotel telephone 旅馆电话]：（010）88461188
[Emergency contact：Daniel Zeng / 联系人：曾大军]: 135-2013-2193
